Video Script

Hello Everyone. My name is Jessica Kennedy, and this video is brought to you by the academic resource center.

Today we are going to be talking about the Harlem Renaissance in American Literature.

So what is the Harlem Renaissance?

The Harlem Renaissance was a part of the Modernist movement, and had many of the same themes and ideas associated with it.

However, The Harlem Renaissance was a movement where Harlem boasted the largest population of black americans from the Great Migration North due to lack of work, segregation and violence in the south.

The Harlem Renaissance was not just focusing on literature but other arts movements also, giving another reason for many black americans to move to a place where their work would be accepted and appreciated.

Some of the largest cities include Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit

What were some of the main ideas that governed or represented the Harlem Renaissance?

DuBois’ focus on intellectual exploration of black identity usually marks the beginning of the movement.

Some of the issues that DuBois explored were Global Concerns, Identity, Fragmentation, and Social Issues within America.

He also stated that black artsits have a social and political responsibility to life up others in his or her own work. He basically said that it is important that black artists explore how other people are living and show that within their art.

Alain Locke is considered the father of “The New Negro Movement”, another name for the Harlem Renaissance, for his intellectual and philosophical writings on black identity.

He disagreed with DuBois and stated that black artists only had to be responsible for expressing individuality.

Arthur Schomburg argues for importance of remembering the past in the art of the Harlem Renaissance

The two main issues that characterized the time were White Patronage and the disagreements about message and meaning, like we talked about on the previous slide.

To have a few examples of people that were writing during the Harlem Renaissance, the following authors are provided.

Zora Neale Hurston

Langston Hughes

Jean Toomer

Claude McKay

Jessie Fauset

Nella Larson

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